Ghost Town
by bionic4ever
Summary: Something strange is happening in the hills outside of Ojai. People are disappearing but is the cause supernatural, or something more sinister?
1. Chapter 1

**Ghost Town**

Chapter One

"Max!" Jaime called, her bionic legs barely able to keep up with the dog. "C'mon, gimme a break! Max!" They'd been out for a leisurely walk to enjoy the exceptionally beautiful day when Max apparently decided to challenge Jaime to a rousing game of Chase the Puppy. Trouble was, the 'puppy' was a full-grown German Shepherd with some very special qualities. _Great idea, Rudy, _Jaime thought to herself, _making an animal bionic._

Jaime had just returned to Ojai from her annual work-out, check-up and fine-tuning session with Rudy, and Max happened to have been 'in the shop' at the same time. Rudy had thought it would do both Jaime and Max a world of good to spend a few weeks together. She'd been instrumental in the dog's initial training, 18 months earlier, helping Max acclimate to his new abilities and saving his life when the dog suffered bionic rejection (as she herself once had). She'd pleaded with Rudy and Oscar that they hadn't even thought of 'putting her down' when it had happened to her. With the extra chance at life Jaime'd managed to win for him, max had flourished. Although they hadn't seen each other in many months, Jaime and Max had been thrilled at their reunion, and they'd left Rudy's complex together, one humming a happy tune and the other joyfully wagging his tail.

Jaime wasn't feeling especially happy or joyful now, though, as she puzzled at the normally loyal dog's sudden disobedience. A sharp word from her lips would be all it would take to set him back on the straight and narrow, but she had to find him first. Jaime stopped to look around; there was no sign of the dog.

"Max!!!" she called once more, before remembering she didn't have to yell. Max had been at Rudy's complex to have his hearing 'enhanced'. "This isn't funny, Buddy," Jaime said softly. She stood completely still, and her ear picked up an unexpected sound: _a baby crying. _They were in the middle of nowhere, and no civilization meant no baby. Was Max hurt? No - this was definitely a human infant in distress. Three more sounds came in rapid succession: **_Thud_**!, a canine whimper - _Max!_ - and...silence.

Alarmed and a little frightened, Jaime took off at top speed in the direction of the sounds. She found Max, teeth bared, hackles straight up and growling, just outside the entrance to a dilapidated barn. When he saw Jaime, he acknowledged her with a thump of his tail but remained on full alert. Jaime peered into the barn, which appeared to be deserted, then decided to head up the hill to a farmhouse that looked like no one had lived there in decades.

Max barked loudly, and when she didn't stop, he trotted after Jaime, taking her arm very gently in his jaw and tugging her back toward the empty barn.

"Knock it off, Max," she said crossly, shaking him off and trying to continue up the hill. The dog was as stubborn as Jaime was, though, barking and turning in circles before taking her arm again. "Alright, ok - I'm coming," she muttered.

This time, she went inside the barn while Max, his fur standing on edge, stayed glued to her side. Jaime looked at the moldy hay, empty stalls and inch-thick layer of dirt and dust that seemed to be everywhere. The doors at the far end of the barn stood wide open, and as they headed in that direction, something small and metallic lying on the furthest bale caught Jaime's eye.

Lying on top of the rotten hay and the dust, as though it had just fallen or been placed there, was a sterling silver baby rattle.

------

Ten minutes later, Jaime still stood frozen in place, trying to process what this all might mean _and_ calm a completely spooked German Shepherd. The light, pleasant Spring breeze began to swirl and whip around them - even _inside_ the barn - with the force of a small gale, blowing dust into their eyes and blinding them. Max whimpered softly and ran out the back door. Jaime moved to follow him, but the wind slammed the door shut in her face. She turned to run out of the entranceway and hit a second closed door, head-on. The wind, and the world, grew silent.

------

Rudy was confused. He stood outside Jaime's house, wondering if she'd forgotten about him. Unlikely, since they'd just spoken on the phone that morning. He was supposed to be meeting her for lunch, on his way out of state and back to DC. She knew he was coming; she'd invited him. He'd knocked, tried the doorbell, then knocked again, but she didn't answer and there was no happy, barked greeting from Max, either. She'd mentioned before hanging up the phone that she was taking the dog for a walk, but that had been hours ago and Rudy was not only confused; he was growing more worried by the minute. He and Oscar both had keys for Jaime's house, in case of emergencies, but he decided to wait just a little longer before he took that step.

Rudy heard Max crying before he saw him. When the dog spotted a friendly face, he took off at a gallop toward Rudy, stopped directly in front of him and started barking frantically. The doctor had suspected something was wrong before; now he was certain. Jaime would never have let Max take off without being somewhere very close behind him. He patted the dog's head and scratched his ears to try and calm him, then headed inside Jaime's house, motioning for Max to follow.

"Oscar?" Rudy began when his friend picked up the phone, "we've got a problem..."

------


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Rudy never boarded his flight to DC. Instead, Oscar joined him in Ojai, accompanied by the very best possible agent to assist in the search for Jaime.

"Rudy," Steve began, his brow furrowed in concentration and worry, "what, exactly, did she say when you talked to her this morning?"

"She told me she and Max were on their way out for a walk, then she wanted to work in the garden for a couple of hours before lunch. And that she'd see me around noon."

"Did Jaime actually say _a couple of hours_?"

"Yes, she did."

Steve nodded. "Then the walk was supposed to be a quick one."

"That's the impression I got," Rudy affirmed. "After I called Oscar, Russ and I took Max back out, but he got so upset and seemed so frightened that we turned around and came back."

"Where's Max right now?" Steve asked.

"Sleeping on Jaime's bed. We hosed all of the dust off first."

"Dust?"

"His fur was full of so much dust, it looked like one solid mat."

"Mind if I take him out again?"

"Go ahead. He's been resting for a few hours, and it almost seems like he's _mourning _Jaime. That dog adores her; I know he'll help us in any way he can."

Steve chose one of Jaime's favorite T-shirts from a drawer, spritzed it with her cologne and then gently woke the dog. Max awoke with his tail thumping hopefully. Steve patted him consolingly. "You sure you aren't human, Boy?" he mused. He could almost read the dog's thoughts from the expression on his face and in his eyes. "I know you were hoping I was Jaime, but we're gonna find her, Max - you and me."

Rudy pointed out the spot where he'd seen Max returning - alone - from his walk with Jaime, and Steve and the dog headed out into the hills. When the reached the top of the bluff and Steve could've gone in any of a dozen directions, he held out the T-shirt. "Where is she, Max? Find Jaime." Max sniffed at the shirt, cried slightly, and looked up at Steve with what appeared to be understanding. "Show me, Max - find Jaime," Steve repeated. The dog started walking, tentatively at first, and then broke into a bionic run.

Steve guessed they were about ten miles from Jaime's house when they finally stopped. He looked around and saw an ancient, un-cared-for barn and a farmhouse that seemed straight out of the Twilight Zone. Three more small houses dotted the far side of the hill, and although it was after dusk, not one of them had any lights on or showed any sign of life. He held Jaime's shirt out to Max once more.

"Where is she, Max? Where's Jaime?" Max whimpered, and walked slowly to the closed front entrance of the old barn. He looked up at Steve, barked once, and then laid down with his head resting on his front paws, crying. Steve bent down and petted him for a few seconds. "Good boy. You stay, ok?" Steve cautiously pulled the huge barn door open, nearly choking on the dust that swirled into his face. "Here's your dust, Rudy," he said to himself.

The barn was empty, and no footprints belied anyone's presence earlier in the day, but Steve knew the clouds of dust would've obliterated any footprints almost immediately. Jaime _had _been here, though; Steve could **_sense_** her. The rear door was open, but abruptly slammed shut as Steve approached. He'd learned a long time ago to listen to his gut, to his inner voice, and right now that voice was screaming _GET OUT!_ He took a running leap in the direction he'd just come from, his feet hitting the heavy wood at its midpoint just as the doors were beginning to swing inward. At the same instant, some sort of hook swung down from the ceiling in his direction but Steve's every nerve was already on high alert, and he rolled out of the way with only moments to spare. He rolled quickly back onto his feet and dove out the hole he'd just kicked in the now-closed barn door, landing in the dirt by Max's front paws.

As Steve stood back up and brushed himself off, an army of operatives with Oscar in the lead came storming over the hill.

"You alright, Pal?" Oscar panted, fairly out of breath.

"How did you -?" Steve began, then realized the answer himself. "Max's tracking module."

"Yep," Rudy confirmed, as he brought up the rear. The dozen agents began circling around the barn.

Steve's face was ashen and grim. "I almost wish Jaime and I had let you put those modules into us. She was here; I'm sure of that much."

"What'd you find, Pal?" Oscar inquired.

"Nothing. The barn's empty." He looked around at the abandoned houses. "The whole neighborhood looks empty." Steve coughed out a small cloud of dust. "Except for a lot of dirt."

Steve knelt down to pet Max, who still hadn't moved from his prone position. The team of operatives began to force both of the barn entrances open when the wind whipped into another frenzy and a voice boomed out at them, seemingly from the empty barn.

"**_GET OUT_**!"

------


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dusk darkened into midnight, and the army of 12 more than doubled, but at daybreak there were still no clues and no sign of Jaime. Rudy had taken Max back to Jaime's house around 10pm, and Oscar had joined them just before midnight. The two men set up a phone bank and began to coordinate an around-the-clock search for the woman they both loved as if she were their own daughter.

Steve had been searching all night when a fresh team arrived with coffee, donuts and...Geiger counters. He knew what that meant, and that he'd have to return to the house – leave the search area entirely – for the tools to be effective.

"You're looking for her...body...already?" Steve confronted Oscar the moment he got back to the house. "With Geiger counters?"

"Steve, why don't you sit down before you fall down?" Rudy suggested, easing his friend/patient into a chair. "The Geiger counters could also help us find Jaime if she's trapped somewhere, or if she's hurt or being immobilized in some way."

Steve sighed wearily. "I know; I'm sorry. I just feel so helpless."

Rudy patted Steve's shoulder, knowing nothing in his medical bags could take the pain and sadness from his eyes. One of the phones they'd set up on Jaime's coffee table rang, and Oscar answered it immediately.

"Yes?" He listened, frowning. "I'm sorry – could you repeat that?" Oscar continued to listen while Steve's heart froze in fear. "Are you sure? Alright. Thank you." He hung up, obviously stunned.

"Did they find her?" Steve asked anxiously.

"That was the lab," Oscar said slowly. "They analyzed soil samples from outside the barn and all four houses, as well as the dust inside the barn. No traces of blood in any of the samples, but the barn dust...isn't dust. It's phosphor."

"Phosphor?" Rudy puzzled. "What else?"

"Just phosphor."

Steve frowned. "Then when I coughed out that dust, shouldn't it have glowed?"

"Only if it came in contact with the skin directly over your power source," Rudy explained.

"I brushed off too quickly. Why would anyone have that much phosphor in a beat-up old barn?"

Rudy shrugged. "Little too much for a chemistry experiment. Maybe an attempt – however misguided – to attract and study aliens? I've heard whispers about that lately. Or paranormal tests of some kind."

"_Aliens_?" Oscar interjected.

"A glow from that much material...who knows?"

"Could they – whoever 'they' are – have been after Jaime or me, to use us to make the phosphor glow?" Steve asked.

"No. There are dozens of easier ways to make that stuff light up," Rudy said, "and they had no way of knowing either one of you would go there."

"So...none of this helps us find Jaime," Steve summarized sadly.

"Unless she stumbled onto some sort of secret experiment," Oscar said, a light bulb going on in his brain as he exchanged a glance with Rudy. He picked up the phone. "Get me Jack Hansen."

- - - - - -

Less than an hour later, a shaken and evasive Jack Hansen had joined the other three men in Jaime's living room.

"Why were you conveniently in California?" Steve asked accusingly.

"I can't tell you that."

Steve moved closer, already angry. "Doing a little testing up in the hills?"

"Excuse me?" Hansen blustered.

"You heard me." Steve was inches from the NSB Director's face. "Tell me about the phosphor. Now."

"You're on very dangerous ground here, Colonel."

"No," Steve said through clenched teeth, "I think you are."

Hansen's face grew very pale. "This is a National Security matter..."

"So is the disappearance of my operative, Jack," Oscar said quietly. "I'll get a Presidential order, if necessary."

"You won't need that, Oscar," Steve told him as he grabbed Hansen by the shirt collar, pulling it tight around his neck as he prepared to lift him from his seat. "You and Rudy need to leave the room, and give me five minutes to talk to Jack in private."

"That sounds like a threat, Colonel," Hansen said.

"**_It is_**," Steve confirmed, raising him out of the chair and several inches off the floor in one easy motion.

"Oscar, you'd better call off your guard dog," Hansen sputtered.

Oscar placed a hand on Steve's shoulder. "That's not necessary, Pal. For us to leave, I mean. That way, when we finish here, you'll have two witnesses to the fact that Jack never left his seat."

"Ok – alright – put me down!" Hansen pleaded.

Steve raised him higher. "Didn't quite hear you."

"We're...investigating a rash of UFO sightings in that neighborhood: six in less than a month."

Steve let him go, allowing him to drop not-so-gently back into the chair. "Keep talking. Those houses were all empty. Who was seeing UFOs?"

"The residents in question have been relocated...for their own safety," Hansen said reluctantly.

"What about Jaime? Did you 'relocate' her, too?" Steve asked, suddenly afraid.

"Of course not!"

"I should believe you...why?"

"My men haven't been up there for several days. I'll put every one of them at your immediate disposal, to help in any way we can. Was...was she last seen in the barn?"

"We don't know, but she had a dog with her, and the dog took us straight to the front of the barn. Why?"

Jack Hansen had no choice but to say it. "If that _is_ where she was, we may be looking at a case of alien abduction."

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Steve's rank within the Air Force and his status at NASA meant he was aware that the existence of aliens was not a mere possibility; it was a quietly acknowledged certainty. Alien abductions, however, were considered to be the products of attention-seekers with over-active imaginations. Not a single case, of the hundreds that had been reported, was ever verifiable. This meant Steve, Oscar and the army of searchers were all left with the same gnawing, agonizing question:

**_Where is Jaime_**?

- - - - - -

Steve returned to the search area just after 12:30pm, as soon as the Geiger counters were gone. He'd already personally searched the barn – twice – and been through all four houses, but he headed back into the barn for a third look, based on Hansen's assertion that the experiments had been centered there. He moved to various spots throughout the ramshackle old building, remembering how, the previous day, he'd been able to _sense _Jaime's having been there. Today, he didn't feel that – didn't feel _her_ – at all. Despondent, he jumped up into the empty hayloft that stretched across the far end of the barn and sat down to think.

_What if Max was wrong?_ Steve thought in horror. _What if he saw Jaime come into the barn, but she left through the other door? What if she never came **into** the barn at all, but told Max to stay at that door, before she ran off somewhere else? What if she **had** stumbled upon Hansen's men, doing something they shouldn't have been doing? What if...what if...what if...?_ Steve closed his eyes, trying to somehow connect with Jaime, but he felt nothing except a cold, empty ache, deep in his heart.

Steve looked around the tiny hayloft and up into the rafters. Like the searchers who'd stormed the building right after he'd escaped it, he saw no trace of the metal hook he'd barely managed to dodge or of the chain it had swung from. He'd not only seen the hook, he'd felt it whizzing through his hair as he dove out of the way; he'd physically felt it. So where was it? And why...?

Steve's datacom blared suddenly to life, shattering the silence and rousing him from his inner reverie. "What?" he answered distractedly.

"Steve?" It was Oscar. "Where are you, Pal?"

"In the barn, up in the hayloft."

"Oh? Good. Rudy and I are right outside, with Max. We'd like you to take him into the barn."

"Don't know if that's such a good idea; he froze _outside _yesterday, 'cause he was so scared. But I'll try anything. I'll be right out." He jumped down from the loft, landing close to the back door and directly beside... "**_Jaime_**?"

Steve knew he'd closed the door when he'd come in, and he was sure it hadn't opened but, not one to argue with good fortune, he threw his arms joyfully around her, holding her tightly, afraid she might otherwise disappear again.

"Are you alright? _Where were you_?...Jaime?" Silence. Still holding her, Steve took a slight step backward to look at her more carefully. Jaime stood completely still, ramrod-straight, her face very pale and her eyes non-responsive and unblinking.

The datacom crackled again with Oscar's voice. "Steve? Are you alright?"

"What? Uh...yeah, I'm...fine. Oscar, Jaime's here. I've got her." He scooped her up into his arms since she seemed completely unaware of her surroundings or of his presence next to her. "I'm bringing her out now."

An extremely stunned Steve carried Jaime out through the doors Oscar and Rudy threw open for him. Max saw her and immediately perked up, his tail thumping wildly as he did a doggy version of a happy dance. Oscar and Rudy were both grinning broadly, until they saw Steve's dark, worried eyes. "I'll call the Medivac," he told Rudy. "Something's wrong."

Oscar got on his datacom, so Rudy could begin to tend to his stricken patient. Steve very gently eased Jaime down onto a soft patch of grass. She stared vacantly into space, not having uttered a single sound. Steve sat down next to her, enfolding her tenderly in his arms as Rudy knelt beside them.

"Jaime...Sweetheart, please talk to us," Steve begged quietly.

Rudy frowned at Jaime's total lack of recognition. He touched his hand to her forehead and her cheek before taking her left wrist to check her pulse. He looked up at Steve. "She's in shock," the doctor said. "How long on the Medivac?" he asked Oscar.

"Five minutes."

Rudy leaned closer to Jaime. "Honey, can I see your arm, please?" She didn't respond. The doctor looked to Steve, who gently extended Jaime's left arm. She didn't resist in any way; she didn't even appear to notice. "No injection marks," Rudy told Steve, after checking Jaime's arm thoroughly. "I won't really know for sure until I can examine her at the hospital, but she doesn't have any visible injuries." He snapped his fingers directly in front of Jaime's eyes, but she still didn't blink. Worry furrowed the doctor's brow as he looked at Steve and gravely shook his head. "Oscar, hand me my bag, please?" he asked. "Thank you."

Rudy sorted through the medical bag and removed a syringe and a vial. When he was ready, he glanced again at Steve, who understood and squeezed Jaime's upper arm just enough for the doctor to find a vein. In under two minutes, just as the chopper could be heard in the distance, Rudy eased Jaime's head down gently onto Steve's shoulder as her eyelids fluttered and closed. Steve pulled her limp body closer, letting her rest against his chest, wishing he could understand – even a little bit – what the _hell_ had just happened.

- - - - - -


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Steve and Oscar stood in the hallway, just outside Jaime's hospital room. Chairs lined the walls, but both men were too tense to sit down.

"Could Hansen be right?" Steve wondered, asking himself as much as he was asking his boss. "About aliens taking Jaime, I mean."

Oscar placed a strong, steadying hand on Steve's shoulder. "Pal, **you** know, better than almost anyone, how unlikely that is."

"Yeah, but I looked deep into her eyes, and _Jaime_ wasn't there. _No one _was there. It gave me goosebumps, and not the good kind."

"Let's see what Rudy says," Oscar told him quietly.

As if on cue, Rudy joined them in the hallway, his face drawn with fatigue and worry. "Not a mark on her," he stated. "There are no bruises or broken bones, no injection marks and no drugs in her system, other than the sedatives I've given her. Her brain scan and brain wave readings are completely normal, and I found no evidence whatsoever of an sort of 'alien probe'."

Steve sighed with relief. "She's...okay, then?"

"No. Jaime is definitely _not_ okay." Rudy shook his head sadly. "When the first injection I'd given her wore off, she appeared to wake up, but her condition could pretty much be described as catatonic. She has no blink reflex, not even in response to flashes of light or to sound. She's completely nonverbal and nonreactive, even to mild pain stimuli."

Steve frowned. "Is she still in shock?"

"Yes. She's still sedated and I'm hoping that she'll 'sleep it off', so to speak. Trouble is, we still have no clue what **it** is."

"Would hypnosis help?" Steve suggested.

"She's in no condition to cooperate at this point," the doctor explained, "but I do have an expert in paranormal experiences flying out to consult with me. She'll be arriving early tomorrow morning. I've explained Jaime's situation to her, and she's agreed to evaluate her condition, and to work with her as soon as she's able to participate. She's got a Level Six security clearance, so she can review _all_ of Jaime's medical files and be well-informed on every aspect of her case. If we're lucky, Jaime will wake up tomorrow morning and be able to tell us herself about what happened to her. If not, we'll have the best possible team assembled to help her, both medically and psychologically."

Rudy took a closer look at Steve, who appeared to be on the verge of needing a hospital bed himself. "She'll be asleep for at least a good six hours. Why don't you try to rest a little yourself? I'm sure you could use it."

"I don't think I could sleep," Steve answered. "Not until I know Jaime's alright. I'd rather sit with her, it that's okay."

"When was the last time you ate anything?" Rudy persisted, in full doctor mode.

"I'm really not hungry."

"That's not what I asked you. I'll make you a deal. You can go in there and sit with Jaime, I'll have one of the nurses bring you a sandwich, and you will make a concentrated effort to eat it."

"Rudy -" Steve started to protest, but seeing the resolute expression on the doctor's face, he changed his mind and simply nodded. "Thanks."

Steve sat beside Jaime's bed, watching her sleep, and with nothing else to do, his mind began to wander and fill with memories. He could still see her as the five-year-old, pig-tailed tomboy, as the lanky but gorgeous teenager with a tennis racket seemingly attached to her arm and also as the starry-eyed young woman with whom he'd been happily planning a wedding until the day fate had ripped them from each other's arms. They still shared an almost psychic bond, but Steve loved Jaime enough to put aside feelings she simply wasn't ready to handle. His heart – indeed, his very soul – yearned for this woman; he remained firmly and completely in love with her.

He was still by her side five hours later, when she began to toss restlessly back and forth in her bed, crying out with soft, tear-less sobs. He reached for her hand, grasping it gently in both of his own. Rudy – alerted when Jaime's flailing knocked a wire loose on her monitor – hurried into the room. Terror began to crease across Jaime's face, and Steve tenderly caressed her skin, trying in vain to comfort her.

"Jaime," he whispered, "It's ok, Sweetheart, you're safe now." Her body began to tremble with a violent, almost seizure-like intensity, and she rolled away from his loving touch.

Rudy tried, and failed, to reconnect the monitor; his patient was thrashing too wildly for him to get the grip he needed. He had started to place an oxygen mask over her face when suddenly, Jaime's eyes snapped fully open, and she sat bolt-upright in the bed, breaking her silence with a single, blood-curdling scream:

"_**NO**_!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Without giving a thought to the fact that Jaime could hurt him out of sheer panic, Steve threw himself around her terror-stricken body, pinning her arms to her sides as he cradled her in a loving – albeit extremely tight – embrace. Instantly, her trembling ceased and fear gave way to total confusion.

"Steve? What the hell -?" Jaime looked around to discover she wasn't where she'd expected to be. Steve felt the struggle ebb out of her, and resumed simply holding her hand as a stunned Jaime tried to make sense of what seemed impossible. "What...happened? Max! I've gotta...find Max!"

Rudy stepped back up to the other side of Jaime's bed. "Max is just fine, Honey; we took him back to your house. Let's worry about you right now." He reached for Jaime's wrist, taking her pulse as Steve gently eased her back onto her pillow.

Jaime's questioning eyes moved from one man at her bedside to the other and back again. "We...were gonna have...lunch..." she said to Rudy. "What time is it?"

Neither man wanted to send her back into a panic, so they began to fill her in, very slowly, carefully choosing their words. "Max met me for lunch, Honey," Rudy said softly, "but you weren't with him."

"I...don't understand..."

"I called Oscar," Rudy continued, "and while he and the search team were on their way here, I took Max back out to try and find you, but I couldn't keep up with him."

"_Search team_?" Jaime was confused. "I was only in the barn."

"Jaime..." Steve began gently.

"Were they really mad, coming all the way out to search, when I was already here? How...did I get here?" Confusion whipped back into fear when Jaime saw the worried glance that passed between the two men. "What?"

Steve knew they'd never learn what had happened if they didn't tell her the truth. "Two separate teams went over every inch of that barn and so did I – three times. You weren't there. Sweetheart...you were missing for more than 24 hours."

"No-o-o...where...was I?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Steve said, watching her closely.

Jaime closed her eyes as tears began to flow, single-file, down her pale cheeks. "Who found me?"

"I did," Steve answered, not quite sure how to explain the rest.

"Where...?"

"Honey, you need to rest now," Rudy told her. "I've got someone flying in who can help all of us figure this out, when you're a little stronger."

"But -"

"Rudy's right, Sweetheart," Steve told her. "Why don't you get a little more sleep, and -"

"Can you...will you...stay with me?" She felt so frightened, but couldn't even begin to say why.

Steve gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "You don't even need to ask me that. I'm not going anywhere." He leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I'll be right here when you wake up; I promise." He smiled at her once more, but Jaime, weak and exhausted, had already drifted off to sleep.

- - - - - -

A few hours later, Rudy returned to check on the patient in the bed, _and_ the one in the bedside chair. After thoroughly assessing Jaime's condition, he motioned for Steve to follow him into the hallway. Steve complied, but remained in the doorway, his eyes and ears fully still alerted toward Jaime.

"I was hoping you might've dozed off yourself," Rudy told him.

"I'm fine. How is she, Rudy?"

"The extra rest is doing a world of good. She's finally pulled out of shock, although I _am_ worried about how she'll be affected when she has to start dealing with what happened."

"Especially the part we don't know about," Steve agreed. "We don't have any idea where she was."

"Steve, it's possible Jaime may have experienced a kind of fugue state, where she just completely disassociated, maybe wandered off somewhere by herself -"

"But you don't believe that's what really happened," Steve stated, reading Rudy pretty accurately.

"No. I suppose that's preferable to any other scenario, but even with her history of amnesia, the pieces don't quite fit."

"Rudy, I know it's impossible, but she – _materialized_ – in that barn. When I jumped into the loft, I was completely alone, and those doors didn't open again until you and Oscar opened them, when I carried Jaime outside. One second, she was missing – _gone_ – and then...she wasn't. If Jaime doesn't remember where she was, we might never know who had her, or what that may have done to her."

"I believe I can help you with that," a female voice that had just joined them asserted.

"Sheila, thank you so much for coming," Rudy said, warmly shaking the newcomer's hand. Steve turned from the doorway long enough to acknowledge a woman in a white blazer and faded blue jeans. "Doctor Sheila Owens, this is Colonel Steve Austin. Steve, Sheila is the paranormal expert I told you about."

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Steve told her, shaking the young doctor's hand, "but –** ghosts**?"

"_Spirits_ are a strong possibility, from the facts I've been given in this case," Sheila responded, smiling. She was used to skepticism much stronger than Steve's.

"I suppose that's a better explanation than aliens," Steve admitted, trying to keep an open mind.

"I understand you also had an unusual experience in the same structure, and I'll need to get those details, exactly as you remember them, but I'd like to speak with Jaime first, if that's possible." Sheila told Steve, before looking to Rudy, who nodded his assent.

"She'll be awake soon," Rudy said. "Steve has been a strong source of support for her, and -"

"Of course, he'll want to be with her when we talk," Sheila completed for him. "This will undoubtedly be very traumatic for Jaime, and I'd like her to be as comfortable as possible."

"So would I," Steve said quietly, turning to head back to Jaime's side. "Thank you."

Doctor Owens watched silently as Steve returned to his bedside chair. "He really loves her a lot," she noted to Rudy.

"Yep."

"And they're...not together?"

"They will be," Rudy said softly. "Someday."

- - - - - -


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Jaime awakened much more gently than she had in the middle of the night. Steve's smiling face and his loving caress of her cheek went a long way toward making her feel safe and secure.

"Morning, Beautiful," he said softly.

"Hi." Jaime's mind still swirled with confusion, but as she looked up into Steve's eyes, she felt as if she were in the middle of a calm, blue oasis that, for that moment, she had no desire to leave.

"Feeling a little better?"

"Yeah," she answered. "I just wish I understood..."

"You will," he promised, looking toward the door where Rudy and Sheila were waiting. "Jaime, this is Doctor Sheila Owens," Steve told her as both doctors joined them.

"Hi, Jaime; you can call me Sheila," the new doctor said warmly. "I was hoping you might feel up to talking for a little while. I'd like to help you make sense of everything that's happened to you in the last two days."

"You a shrink?" Jaime asked with characteristic bluntness.

Sheila laughed. "No – were you expecting one?"

"Well...maybe. And maybe I need one."

Sheila sat down in a chair by the window, a small distance from the bed so Jaime wouldn't feel overwhelmed or threatened. "No one believes that, Jaime. I don't think you do, either. I've been studying and dealing with experiences like yours for nearly a decade, so nothing you might tell me will shock or frighten me; I'm simply here to help. Ok?"

"Alright," Jaime agreed, taking Steve's hand, "but I don't really have anything to tell you. I...I guess I was missing for – what, a day?" Steve nodded. "I don't know what happened. I don't...remember any of it."

"And that scares you," Sheila observed.

"Yeah."

"It would scare anyone. You remember more than you think you do, though, and we'll sort it all out, piece by piece, until it makes sense and doesn't feel so scary anymore. Jaime, I need you to close your eyes," Sheila said, very calmly, "and picture what was going on that morning: where you were, what you were doing, right before you went into that barn."

"I was walking Max," Jaime told her. She felt Steve give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"And what happened next?" Doctor Owens requested.

"Max ran away from me, and when I was looking for him, I heard...there was a baby crying." The entire room remained silent, letting Jaime's memories unfold at whatever pace she was comfortable with. "Max whimpered, like he was hurt, and I found him...by the barn. I looked inside and it was empty, so I started to go up the hill toward the house..."

"Why did you do that?" Sheila questioned.

"The baby...its crying...it sounded hurt, and I was going for help." Jaime took a deep breath, fighting back the panic that threatened to overtake her. "Max – he grabbed my arm in his mouth, and he...he pulled me back toward the barn."

"Then what happened?"

"I told him to stay, and...and I...went inside." In spite of her efforts to stay calm, Jaime began to tremble slightly, and her voice quivered as she spoke. "There was this...dust everywhere – so much of it! - and then I saw something by the doors in the back...it _wasn't_ dusty at all. It was like someone just put it there." Tears pearled in the corners of her eyes.

"What was it, Jaime?" Sheila asked gently. "What did you find?"

"A...a rattle. A baby's rattle. I started to pick it up and the wind – it came out of nowhere – blew the back doors shut. The dust got in my eyes, and I...I couldn't see." Jaime started to cry in earnest now, but very quietly. Steve moved to sit on the edge of her bed, putting his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"I started feeling really scared," Jaime continued, much more hesitantly, "and I turned to run out the front, but I heard the doors slam shut there, too." She opened her eyes, leaned fully into the strength and warmth of Steve's embrace, and looked over at Sheila. "I woke up, and I was here."

"You're doing a great job, Jaime. Now, I'd like to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them without thinking – just say whatever feels right."

"O...k..."

"Did you see or hear anything after the doors closed?"

Jaime closed her eyes again, seeming to flinch a bit. "**_Wind_**."

"You could still hear the wind? Outside the barn?"

"_Inside_. It got louder, and the dust _hurt. _ It hurt me, all over."

"What did it feel like?"

"Pins. Like pins sticking me, everywhere!"

"What came next?" Sheila prompted. "What did you feel?"

"The wind got so strong...I couldn't hear...and I...I couldn't see. And then...I couldn't breathe."

"Why not? What happened, Jaime?"

"Something grabbed me, and pulled – hard."

"Someone grabbed you?"

"Some**_thing._** It...it felt...like a hook."

- - - - - -

The hook was the last thing Jaime could remember; there was nothing more she could tell them. Soon after relating the last bit of the story, she fell into an exhausted sleep in Steve's arms. Steve refused to leave her, and Rudy and Sheila headed for Rudy's office to discuss the next step. They were met in the hallway by Oscar, who looked like he'd gotten no more rest the previous night than Steve had.

"Steve mentioned a hook swinging toward him when he first went into the barn, as well," Rudy told Sheila, after introducing her to Oscar.

Doctor Owens nodded. "I read that in the file, and it tells me a lot. But I do need more information." She turned to Oscar. "I need a full report on the testing that took place on that hill: who was involved, what they were looking for and exactly what they may have found. Can you get that for me, please?"

"Absolutely," Oscar confirmed, picking up the phone.

"I especially need to know if anyone was injured or killed."

- - - - - -


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Oscar's face was grim. "Hansen is refusing to release the file."

"The hell he is!" Steve retorted. "From what Sheila told us, we don't just need it to help Jaime; this is a matter of public safety. Refusal is **not** an option!"

"What kind of danger are we talking about?" Oscar queried.

Sheila looked as grim and angry as everyone else. "Something – or someone – has drastically upset the balance in that entire area. It _could_ be a danger only to Steve and Jaime, because of their unique qualities, but I believe that anyone who wanders onto that property – especially into the barn – is in very serious jeopardy."

"I'll have my men seal off the area immediately," Oscar announced. "Then I _will_ get that file, even if I have to pry it out of Jack's cold, dead hands."

- - - - - -

"So I'm not crazy," Jaime told Steve that afternoon, once he'd filled her in on the few details they had. "You felt a hook, too."

"Sweetheart, no one _ever_ thought you were crazy. The really strange part is, that barn was checked out with a fine-toothed comb, right after I busted out, and they didn't find a hook. There wasn't even any rope or chain that it could've hung from, or any mark on the rafters."

"Well, we didn't _both _imagine it," Jaime pointed out sensibly, "but I should've heard it coming, and yet you were the one who got away..."

"You had no reason to think there was anything unusual going on. When I went in, we were looking for you, so I was already alert."

"Ok, but...phosphor?"

"That's why we need Hansen's file, and we _will_ get it. He said something about checking out UFO sightings, but we need details and he's being awfully tight-lipped."

"Something terrible happened up there," Jaime theorized. "If he'd found a UFO or captured an alien or...whatever, he'd wanna scream it to the world, for the recognition."

"You're right," Steve agreed. "You know, his theory – at least, the one he shared with us – was that you were abducted by aliens."

"Do we know for sure that I wasn't?" Jaime asked in a quiet, frightened voice.

"I've walked on the moon; I've _been_ in space. We're definitely not the only life form in the universe, but I can guarantee you there are no 'little green men' out there, looking for helpless Earthlings to kidnap."

"It's so scary, not knowing where I was or what happened to me," Jaime sighed. "I'm almost as afraid of finding out as I am of not knowing, so if it was just me involved, I'd say 'no harm, no foul' – let it go. But Sheila thinks this could turn into some kind of black hole and just keep sucking people in, if we don't fix it."

"**_We_**?"

"Yes – we. Rudy's gonna discharge me tomorrow."

"That doesn't mean you're ready to bounce right out there and go alien hunting."

"_Ghost_."

Steve grimaced. "Whatever. We can take care of this one without you; you've got some major resting to do."

"Steve -"

"No. It's out of the question."

"You need me – bait for the trap, so to speak."

"I won't let you head right back into harm's way, Jaime."

"_Excuse me_?" Jaime raised an eyebrow and her eyes locked firmly and stubbornly into Steve's. "_Let me_?"

"Ok – poor choice of words, but -"

"Extremely poor."

"I'm just not comfortable -" Steve protested.

"Well, I am, and I've already got an idea."

- - - - - -

While Jaime met privately with Sheila that evening, Steve and Oscar were each on their third cup of coffee as they waited in the hospital conference room for Jack Hansen to show up. Finally, 30 minutes late, the NSB Director stormed in, slamming the door.

"You're forcing the issue, Goldman? **Why**?" Hansen thundered. "Some things are truly better off left alone."

Steve grinned laconically. "Always good to see ya, Jack."

"Did you bring the file?" Oscar demanded.

"I have it," Jack grumbled, "but it's all so ugly in black and white. What exactly were you looking for?"

"What – _exactly_ – are you hiding?" Steve shot back.

"Look, we were there to do legitimate testing of some very credible but unexplained sightings of what witnesses believed to be flying saucers. The phosphor was supposed to attract whatever was out there, but -"

"Let me guess," Steve said, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest, "you found nothing to justify the waste of all those tax-dollars and had to 'relocate' all those innocent people, just to keep their mouths shut."

"No!" Jack blustered. "Well, not really...there was little bit of confusion, and..."

"Just spit it out," Steve said, growing impatient.

"What happened, Jack?" Oscar asked quietly. "How many people did you force from their homes?"

"It wasn't like that."

"_How many_?" Oscar demanded.

"Nineteen, but...no, there were eighteen, I guess," Hansen stammered.

"Keep talking," Steve seethed.

"We moved most of them out, no problem. After the sightings, they were eager to go. But...a woman – she never should've gone into that barn, and we tried to stop her -"

"Quit hedging, Hansen, and get to the point." Steve said angrily. "You killed an innocent woman, didn't you? Or was there more than one death?"

Jack shook his head adamantly. "We didn't _kill _anybody. She went into the barn with her baby in her arms, and when she came out...the baby...it was gone. That was just over a week ago. We took the mother to the relocation center, but our teams never found the baby."

"I want that woman and her husband brought here immediately," Oscar directed.

"I'm afraid that's impossible," Jack told him.

"_**Why**? What aren't you telling us?"_ Steve challenged.

"The woman in question is a widow; her husband died six months ago. And, well, three days ago, a couple of hours before Jaime left the house for her walk, the woman – Nancy Travers - left the relocation center. We haven't seen her since."

- - - - - -


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Nancy Travers is the key to this entire mystery," Sheila asserted from the doorway. Three heads turned sharply in her direction; no one had heard her come in. "You need to find her – fast."

"I'm guessing you understand all of this?" Steve ventured.

"He just put the last piece into place," she affirmed, nodding toward Hansen. "Your so-called UFO sightings were actually indicators of a portal to what you refer to as Heaven and what I call The Other Side. Nancy must've been contacting her late husband each time an incident was reported."

"Now that you mention it," Jack told them, "she was the only adult resident up there who _didn't_ report a sighting."

"When you filled that barn with phosphor," Sheila said, fixing an icy stare at Hansen, "you turned the portal into a vortex that started drawing people into its center and rapidly increasing in strength."

"A black hole," Steve said grimly.

"Not exactly, but similar. A black hole sucks in anything in its path; this type of vortex feeds on _souls_. Nancy went into that barn on 'relocation day' – whatever the hell that was – to say goodbye, expecting the usual portal. Poor thing, she had no idea what was really going on," she glared at Hansen, "or what **_you_** had created, until her baby was sucked away."

Hansen shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "We had no way to know any of that."

Sheila frowned. "True, and yet you went ahead and tampered with forces you couldn't begin to understand or control. Nancy probably went back there to try and rescue her child -"

"But Jaime got pulled in as well," Oscar concluded.

"Nancy would've been drawn in, herself, but either the dog's barking frightened her away or Jaime walked in at that exact moment."

Steve understood, at least in part. "Nancy got scared and ran, and Jaime was ..._taken_ in her place. But – Jaime came back, and the baby is still missing."

"_Believed_ to be missing," Jack muttered in a much more humble tone.

"A child that young has little to no physical or emotional strength," Sheila explained, "and would have had no chance of manipulating its own circumstances. From the few hours I've known Jaime, I can already say that her will – and her sense of self – are extraordinarily strong. Steve, when you went into that hayloft and just sat there, your thoughts and the bond you share were exactly what she needed to find her way back."

"Why wasn't I sucked in?" Steve asked.

"The vortex may have lost strength immediately after Jaime disappeared, by virtue of her attempts to fight her way out, or your level of alertness combined with your speed may have been enough to allow you to duck out of harm's way. The 'hook' you felt wasn't a hook at all; your mind created that as the most logical cause when you felt yourself being grabbed and pulled."

"If we clean up the phosphor," Oscar said, his eyes shooting daggers at Hansen, "would that eliminate the problem?"

"That would definitely be the right first step," Sheila confirmed, "but while that might kill the vortex itself, the original portal and the negative energy that made it dangerous would still remain intact. "

"Wonderful," Oscar grumbled.

"It can be done," Sheila continued. "The 'how' depends on the reason the portal opened in the first place. My theory would be that Nancy's deep-seated need to connect with her late husband was strong enough to draw the necessary energy into that barn. It was formed and opened by love, not animosity. Other forces turned that energy into an evil, dangerous fury. To close the portal completely – forever – we need to find Nancy Travers."

Rudy, out of breath, puffed through the doorway. "I think Jaime may be intending to beat you to the punch. I just went in to check on her; she's gone."

- - - - - -

The night sky was calm and full of stars. The air was pleasantly warm, with no breeze, and yet Jaime shivered as she made her way up the deserted hillside toward the old barn. She could hear a violent, angry wind screaming and swirling _inside_ the building and had to force herself to keep going. She knew there wasn't much time; they'd surely noticed she wasn't in her hospital bed, and they'd be looking for her soon. While Oscar and Steve had been meeting with Jack, she'd been nodding politely and answering Sheila's questions with her true attention (and her ear) tuned to the conference room down the hall. When Sheila left to join the men's discussion, she'd handed Jaime the opportunity to leap into action. Rudy would be worried, Oscar would be furious and Steve...well, she'd just have to deal with all of them later, after she'd accomplished what she'd set out to do. In her heart, Jaime knew she should do anything in her power to help Nancy Travers find her child. After all, wherever that helpless infant was now waiting, Jaime had traveled there, too. She wouldn't rest – wouldn't be able to live with herself – until she went back there, wherever 'there' was, and returned with Nancy's child safely in her arms.

Her heart pounding with trepidation and excitement, Jaime reached for the latch on the barn's front doors.

- - - - - -

A blue light flashed on the roof of the car that carried Steve, Oscar and Sheila at 90 miles per hour through the streets that led to the 'ghost town'.

Steve's throat was tight with fear and worry, and he tried not to picture what might be happening to Jaime at that precise moment. "She's always been this way," he told Sheila. "She'll jump straight into any situation where she thinks she can help, without any thought to the danger."

"She has a kind, pure heart," Sheila added, "but this time I'm afraid she has absolutely no idea how strong these forces can become, or how badly – and how quickly – they could harm her."

- - - - - -


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The fury of the vortex held the doors shut with a force stronger than Jaime's bionics, and she knew she was in serious trouble. OSI policy (and good common sense) dictated she should step back and wait, but Jaime was listening to her heart and her gut instinct. When she couldn't open the door, she dove through the hole Steve had made in his escape from 'the hook', using her own momentum and the pull of the wind to 'help' her get inside.

Through the heavy, choking cloud, Jaime saw a woman hunched down at the other end of the barn, with only her white-knuckled death grip on a support beam preventing her from being wrenched into the swirling, threatening mass.

"Nancy?" Jaime called, already knowing the answer. Phosphor began to cling to her body, as it was already clinging to everything else. Nancy Travers' eyes, already wide with terror, grew wider as the right side of Jaime's head began to glow. Jaime's ultra-sensitive ear picked up many sounds at once: the screeching maelstrom itself, moans and shouts that seemed to come from _inside_ the vortex, the lone, plaintive cry of a solitary infant and Nancy's frightened whisper.

"Who – what – are you?" Nancy asked softly.

Jaime had no opportunity to answer. Fighting her way through the inter-worldly vacuum through sheer force of will, she made her way to the bereaved mother's side. Intending to toss Nancy outside through the rear doors, Jaime grabbed for her hand just as the woman's body was yanked from its anchor and pulled through the air. Her hand kept a firm grip on Jaime's as Nancy's body disappeared into the depths of the invisible tornado.

Jaime flailed her other arm toward the support beam, but just missed. The deadly suction of the vortex made it almost impossible to breathe, and she planted her feet as firmly as her bionic strength allowed in a last-ditch attempt to remain on solid ground, but the pull was far too powerful. Jaime, too, had begun to disappear when – at the exact same moment – both sets of barn doors were forced fully open, with the resulting cross-ventilation buying the extra split-second needed for another strong, determined hand to grab hold of Jaime's. Her head throbbed as her body struggled for any last remnants of oxygen still inside her. She could hear her own blood pounding futilely through her veins; Jaime knew she was dying.

Insidethe barn but still outside the vortex, Steve felt Jaime's tentative grip on his hand weaken as she began to be drawn away. "Jaime – I'm not letting you go!" he called loudly in the abyss. Tightening his hold on her right hand with his own bionic hand, he shifted his weight and firmly grasped her wrist with his remaining hand, straining every muscle in his body as he pulled with every ounce of his strength. He was grateful for the support of the harness around his chest, which was fastened to the earth-mover outside, but the suction was already tightening the straps unbearably and, like Jaime, he began to struggle for breath.

Once he was sure he had the best possible grip, he leaned backwards, braced himself and shouted to the team outside the barn. "**_NOW_**!"

The earth-mover's engine sputtered to life and the monster-machine pulled slowly away from the barn. Steve groaned involuntarily from the exertion as he pulled along with the moving vehicle. His heart was beating dangerously hard against a chest where ribs had begun to crack with the strain. He held tightly to Jaime's unseen hand, and her arm stuck visibly out of the swirling mass as he gave it another determined tug. He could feel her entire body vibrating, then her arm disappeared again into the evil, swirling vortex. This time, it seemed to Steve as though Jaime herself was pulling - _in the wrong direction_! Just as suddenly, the opposition ceased, the suction died and Steve fell backwards to the floor of the barn through the strength of his own fight.

Outside the barn, Oscar hollered to the driver: "Stop the engine!" Steve blinked his eyes to clear away the debris, and beside him – her skin porcelain-pale, but breathing and alive – was...Jaime. Her right hand was still firmly clasped in Steve's, but her left was gripping Nancy Travers' hand and Nancy's arm cradled...the baby.

The abrupt silence was as deafening as the wind had been just seconds earlier. Steve sat up, not even noticing his own pain, and cradled Jaime tenderly in his arms, as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Steve brushed them away and kissed her softly, drawing her even closer in a gentle, comforting embrace.

"The baby..." Jaime murmured, only partially conscious, as she and Steve were placed on gurneys and wheeled into the Medivac. Steve reached over to touch her cheek with his fingertips.

"The baby – and Nancy – are fine, Sweetheart," he told her softly. "They're already on their way to the hospital. Why don't you close your eyes now, and try to rest a little?"

"You _both_ need to rest now," Rudy interjected, seating himself between them as the Medivac took flight, and fitting the duo with matching oxygen masks. "This time, you've _truly_ been to Hell and back."

- - - - - -


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue

Jaime was kept in the hospital overnight, for observation and treatment of mild shock. She spent a large portion of the next week _still_ at the hospital, keeping Steve company as he began to recover from his injuries. Once Steve was well on his way to being healed, though, Jaime knew there was someone else who needed her special, comforting touch.

"C'mon, Max!" she urged, waving her arms to entice the dog to run with her up the hill toward what was now a demolition site. It was only when she started to jog on without him that Max was persuaded to follow.

The houses were all still in place (and still empty) but seemed more lively and inviting now, courtesy of a power wash of their exteriors after the barn area had been cleared. It was once again possible to picture children playing in the yards and their parents relaxing on the porches, nodding to their neighbors and sipping lemonade.

The barn itself...was gone. The building had been razed in the last week, the debris (and phosphor) hauled away and the ground beneath had been lowered by at least a foot, removing any possibility of contaminated soil remaining behind. As Jaime and Max arrived, new, fresh soil had just been spread in place and the plot had been staked off in preparation for re-seeding with fresh green grass. The one person Jaime had been very purposefully avoiding all week was standing with his arms folded across his chest, watching the revitalization project. She almost turned around and headed back for home, but she had to face him eventually. And it was time to get this settled...wherever the chips might fall.

"Oscar...?" she began (hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she suddenly felt).

"Hi, Babe," he said with his hint of a smile quickly disappearing when he saw the look on Jaime's face. "What's wrong?"

"Am...am I fired?" she finally asked?

"My operatives are not fired," he told her with great mock seriousness. "They are _reassigned._"

"Then I guess I'm reassigned...to Siberia...?"

"We stopped sending people there when the Cold War ended," he joked. "But why would you think that in the first place?"

"Well...Steve got hurt – _really_ hurt – because of me. And...Sheila said the vortex would've been gone for good, once Nancy stepped inside."

"Maybe," he agreed, "but so would Nancy – and her baby. According to Sheila, who I just spoke with this morning, the vortex _is_ gone. The malevolence that allowed it to exist is gone because Nancy was able to make peace with the loss of her husband. She was finally able to say goodbye. And – while I'm not sure I believe this part – Sheila tells me that Nancy's husband was able to hold his child...and to say goodbye, as well. It's over, Babe. And while I can't condone your leaving the hospital the way that you did, your actions saved two lives. What you did took a lot of courage. A _lot_ of courage," he repeated.

"Then...you aren't angry?"

"I'm proud of you!" he affirmed. "And I'm told that in a few more days, the residents here will be allowed to return to their homes, so it's a happy ending, all around."

"Nancy too?"

"From what I understand, Nancy has chosen not to return here, but the government will assist her in finding a safe new home for herself...and her son."

"What about Jack and his alien hunters?" Jaime wondered.

"He's decided to leave that to the experts at NASA."

Jaime smiled. "Steve'll be happy to hear that." She glanced over to where Max had just jumped the stakes and strings and was hunching down in the middle of the newly-sown grass. "Um...I should probably stop him..."

Oscar laughed – and shook his head. "From what they tell me, Babe, that's _great_ fertilizer!"

END


End file.
